Chain-link.



M. B. RYAN.

. CHAIN LINK.

APPLICATION FILED 1339.5A 1911. RENEWED DEG. 20, 1912,

1,093,90 Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR GET-LINK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. ltd, 191%.

Application filed December 5, 1911, Serial No. 664,089. Renewed December20, 1912. Serial No. 737,918.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, MICHAEL B. RYAN, acitizen of the United States, residing in the city of Bridgeport, countyof Fairfield, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Chain-Links; and I do declare the following to hea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same. I

My invention relates to certain improvements in the construction ofwelded wire links for chains, and has for its object to provide such alink which shall be formed throughout its area from onesingle thicknessof wire so bent as to provide a comparatively large bow portion and acomparatively small eye portion, which bow and eye shall extend inplanes at right angles to each other, so that a chain made of such linksmay readily run over a pulley.

Further objects of my invention are to economize in the use of wire andto prevent any strain or wrench on the eye portion of the link fromexerting a tendency to disturb the side wires of thebow of such link.With these ends in View my invention consists in the details ofconstruction hereinafter fully described and then particularly pointedout in the claims which conclude this description.

In the accompanying drawing Figure l is a face elevation of my improvedlink- Fig. 2 an end view-Fig. 3 a side elevationl ig. 4 a section at theline m, an, of Fig. 1 Fig. 5 a view similar to Fig.1 but showing thelink formed with a. very small eye portion, and Fig. 6 a side elevationof the construction shown at Fig. 5.

Similar numerals of reference denote like parts in the several figuresof the drawing.

A suitable wire blank is bent into the form of a link as shown at Fig. lwith the eye portion 1 extending in a plane at right angles to the how 2of the link. The terminals 3 of the wire blank may come together at anydesired part of the link, either at the end of the eye as shown 'in Fig.2, or at the side of one of the bow wires as shown at Fig. 3, or at theend of the bow as shown at Fig. 5, and these terminals are weldedtogether. At the base of the eye where the side Wires of the bowconverge one above the other and merge into the eye,- the wires arewelded together, this welded part being denoted by the numeral 4:.

Fronrthe above it will be readily understood that the chain link is madefrom a piece of wire bent into the form of a, link in such manner thatboth the bow and the eye are inclosed by a single thickness of the wire,and a chain made of links of this sort portion is formed from two wires,because the chain is merely as strong as the weakest part of its links,and if the bow portion of the link is formed of a single wire it doesnot increase the form the eye of a double wire. By welding the wires atthe base of the eye, the latter becomes, so to speak, segregated, inthat any strain or Wrench on the eye cannot they converge from the bowtoward the eye. Also, a chain made of links formed as above cannotpossibly kink owing to the fact that the bearing surfaces between theeye and the how are reduced to a minimum and are bounded by curvedlines.

In links made in accordance withv my improvement the eye may be madevery small and just suficient to loosely accommodate the bow wire of asucceeding link, and this will add considerably to the strength of theeye, since the smaller the latter the less leverage it will adord asagainst any wrenches or strains such as would have a tendency to distortthe eye.

l claim' 1. A chain link made of a single piece of wire having itsterminals welded together and bent to form a comparatively large bowportion and a comparatively small eye ortion, said how and eye beingdispose in planes at substantially right angles to each other, the sidewires of the bow being welded together at the point where they convergeand merge into the eye.

2; A chain link formed throughout its force apart the wires at the pointwhere is just as strong as a chain in which the eye strength of thechain tov area of a single thickness of wire whose end In testimonywhereof I afiix my signaportionsf are welded together' and which is turein presence of two Witnesses.

bent to orm eye and bow ortions that are in planes that.are at substailtially right an- MICHAEL RYAN gles to each other, the wires at thebase of Witnesses:

said eye, at the point where the latter joins F. W. SMITH, Jr.,

the bow, being welded together. M. T. LONGDEN.

